20. The Haunting of Bill Crouse
I love a little black comedy every now and then, and damn does this episode deliver. This episode really revolves around one joke, but they get so much mileage out of it and can play it with so much variety each time. I love Moss and his inability to tell a convincing lie, and how that one joke can spiral into so many fantastic moments. There's a lot of great comedic misunderstanding in this one, but with this dark edge that makes it so great. Any of the scenes where Bill Crouse is being "haunted" by Jen are marvelously funny, especially the last one. I haven't really said it on this list yet, but Katherine Parkinson is absolutely hilarious. She's honestly one of the best things in the whole show for me, and she's spot on in this episode.
Roy's plot isn't as good as the main plot, but it gets some laughs for sure. That Bodysnatchers reference at the end is wonderful. I especially love how Moss pretty much repeats the events of the main plot by telling Judy that Roy had died. Again, it's not as good as the main plot, but it's still damn solid, and has some really good jokes. Overall, this episode is a strong one for sure.
19. Italian For Beginners
Yet another strong Jen episode. Katherine Parkinson's gibberish Italian is absolutely masterful, and easily the episode's main highlight for me. This is probably one of the best portrayals of Jen, who is pretty much the only character with any sense of ambition, which this episode actively mocks. It breaks down Jen's need to be needed, having her lies to get attention pretty much screwing her over in the long run, to pretty hilarious results. It's not the best episode about Jen's aspirations going wrong of course, but it's still a solid hilarious episode nonetheless. Jen's conversation with Burnatelli is absoultely great.
Roy's plot is pretty good too. His Close Encounters style breakdown is hilarious to watch, and the whole idea of a fire at a Seaparks is absurdly funny too. Chris O'Dowd's exaggerated sadness is always so much fun to watch, and here it's no exception. And then there's Moss. Just look at that image above. But seriously, Moss is great in this episode. The mock pregnancy in the arcade is amazing, and the tag with Moss in the machine overnight is one of the series' best tags. Also: "Damn that mash looks tasty!"
18. Moss and the German
I wrestled with where to put this one for a good while, because, well, there's some really good stuff here. That's really the problem with lists like this, because you end up with episodes that are just really good like this one. See, this is a damn fine episode, but I can't really put it above any of the others because well, I just prefer the next seventeen a little more. But as I said, this is still a great episode. Roy's increasingly desperate measures to avoid spoilers for a movie are so relatable, because we've all been there. Granted, not all of us have gone as far as Roy does, but that's besides the point.
Moss, Roy, and Jen's chat about cannibalism is a fantastic exchange of dialogue. Johann is a great one off character, who gets some really good lines. The anti piracy ad at the beginning is hands down one of the show's funniest moments for me. Jen's plot is fine, though nothing special. There are some really great visual gags, and it definitely gets a laugh every once and a while. Also Douglas' "There's somebody at the door!" chant is really funny to me too. This episode has some really good black humour, not as much as other episodes, but it does use it pretty well.
The idea for the plot is great too. Roy and Moss acting like an old married couple is perfect, as is Moss thinking that his life is stagnating. It's pretty clear that Roy and Moss don't really have any other friends, so having them meet new people is a pretty good idea. Having Moss befriend a cannibal and Roy try to socialise with their unstable boss is downright genius. Also, the cello rendition of the credits theme is pretty nice.
17. Fifty Fifty
One thing I love about The I.T. Crowd is how it subverts so many sitcom couple tropes. In any other show, Roy and Jen would for sure get together. It's a refreshing change of pace, one perfectly embodied by this episode It pretty much takes the "will they won't they" thing and subverts the hell out of it. That faux heartwarming moment with the taxi is really great. The episode plays up Roy and Jen's banter and sexual tension, for the sole reason to mock it later on, which is hilarious. And actually, there aren't an awful lot of mainstream sitcoms where the male and female lead don't at some point get together. So yeah, definitely a breath of fresh air in that regard. I was actually pretty surprised when I watched it first that they went that route, but I do honestly think that it was a ver, very good move by the writers.
And then there's the actual comedy. Shit on Roy's forehead, Jen pretending to know what she's talking about, Do You Want To Be A Millionaire (and all of it's alternatives), Roy's theory of women wanting bastards, Roy and Moss' ad, Messyjoes, Jen's Roy impression, the mariachi band, and that tag. There's a lot here, and it's all hilarious. It's one of those really solid episodes where all of the characters get a chance to shine.
16. Calamity Jen
Well, first things first; 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3. That joke alone makes me love this episode. But honestly, everything else is pretty great. This is kind of an establishing episode for Jen, featuring some great work from Katherine Parkinson. It was also the perfect episode to follow the pilot. If the first episode introduced us to these characters, then this one did a good job of letting us get to know them all a little more. Moss' neurosis in the event of a fire, Roy tormenting the guest speaker about the stress detector, Denyholm being an absolute madman, waging war on stress. All of these plots build on what we already know about all of these characters, and they're all done so well.
And that's not even mentioning how funny it is, because trust me, it's incredibly funny. This episode has many comedic highlights. The ad at the start is hilarious, Moss' response to disaster is great, and there's Denyholm. Chris Morris is great as Denyholm anyway, but here he knocks it out of the park. The meeting where he wages war on stress is just amazing.
So, tune in tomorrow for entries fifteen to eleven!
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